SANTA FE—Today the New Mexico State Film Office (NMFO) announced a Town Hall meeting in Silver City on Wednesday, November 13, 2013. This Town Hall follows a series of Town Hall meetings that took place in Las Cruces, Ruidoso, Roswell, Raton, Clovis, and Carlsbad. Film Office Director Nick Maniatis will discuss the state of the film industry including future productions and opportunities available to New Mexico residents. The meetings are intended to provide an open forum for each community to share information about local activity such as educational programs and film related business as well as relaying any issues of concern. 

Prior to each Town Hall meeting, participants will have an opportunity to have their headshot (photograph) taken by a representative of the film office which will be given to Extras Casting Directors in New Mexico. This opportunity is for informational purposes only and is not in response to a particular production. 

The Silver City Town Hall will be held at the historic Silco Theater and will celebrate the first lighting of the recently installed marquee.  The Silco Theater was built in 1923 and served Silver City for many years as a performance and movie theater. In January 2006, the Silver City MainStreet Project re-opened the theater and funds are now being raised to renovate the space into a movie theater again.

Following the Town Hall there will be a special screening of The Making of a Marquee (TRT – 15 minutes).   This short documentary provides a brief history of the efforts leading to the installation of the Silver City MainStreet Project's new Silco Theater marquee. 

The Town Halls are free and open to all, including students, local filmmakers, businesses and the general public. The New Mexico State Film Office collaborates with local film liaisons, schools and chambers of commerce in conducting these events. 

The schedule is as follows:
 
When: 		
Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Time: 		
6:00 PM
 
Location: 	
Silco Theater 
311 N Bullard St.  Silver City, NM 88061

Phone:		
(575) 534-9005 

Agenda: 
6:00 pm - Headshots for casting directors 
7:00 pm - Welcome and Introductions by George Dworin, Silver City Arts & Cultural District and Tourism Director
7:15 pm - State of the NM Film Industry by Director Nick Maniatis
7:30 pm - Recent Films in Grant County – Arlene Schadel
7:35 pm - Film Locations by Don Gray, NMFO contracted Locations Manager
7:40 pm - Q & A
8:00 pm - Special Screening of The Making of a Marquee
 
There is no RSVP necessary to attend any of the Town Hall meetings and surrounding communities are encouraged to participate in the discussion. The expected timeframe for the town hall is approximately two (2) hours with Q&A. 

For more information on the 2013 Film Industry Town Hall meetings contact Dirk Norris at 505-476-5671 or 
dirk@nmfilm.com.

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SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that Horsethief Pictures is producing the feature Dirty Weekend, starring Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness), Gia Crovatin (Full Circle) and Phil Burke (This is 40) is currently in production in Albuquerque.  

The production employed 60 New Mexico crew members, 11 New Mexico actors and 140 background talent.  

Produced by Duncan Montgomery (Bernie); Tiller Russell (The Last Rites of Ransom Pride), Joey Stewart (The Final) and co-produced by Tim Harms and Joel Plotch.  Written and directed by Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men, Nurse Betty, Lakeview Terrace), DIRTY WEEKEND, is the story of Les (Broderick), who finds himself delayed in a city where a year earlier a few too many drinks led to an unexpected encounter, the half-remembered events of which have haunted him since.  Accompanied by his coworker Nat (Eve), who has a few secrets of her own, he sets out to figure out what really happened that night.  As he gets closer to finding what he's looking for, he realizes that learning the truth about one's self can have unintended consequences.

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Visit the New Mexico Film Office online at nmfilm.com

SANTA FE— New Mexico State Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today the winners of the 2013 New Mexico Filmmakers Showcase which took place October 25 – 27, 2013 at the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque.  The following winners were announced in nine (9) categories: 

Best Webisode: Canyon Road pilot “The Fire,” directed by Christopher Wright
TRT 30 minutes.  Canyon Road will be a series containing the episodes that highlight the varied cultural and eclectic characters who inhabit Canyon Road.

Best Music Video: Red Dog written and directed by Tyler Green and Dustin Deen
TRT 3 minutes.  A wheelchair bound man awakens in an alley with a thirst for Red Dog beer.

Best Experimental: Weird written and directed by Miguel Arambula
TRT 17 minutes. An exploration of the haunting aspects of life.  While finding your fate.

Best Documentary: The Chile Film directed by Kelly Urig
TRT 26 minutes. In New Mexico, nothing is as precious as our red and green chile.

Best Drama: Matanza written by Morse Bicknell
TRT 22 minutes.  A weekend camping trip starts out happily enough for a group of college kids, but a dark shadow is cast across the idyllic setting when two outsiders are invited at the last minute.

Best Comedy: Zombiewood directed by Lauren Petzke
TRT 14 minutes. A zombie named Harry thinks the answer to his “undead” life is to get a SAG card! While the world has little use for zombies, there is one industry where they fit in very well – Hollywood.

Best Animation: Snowdysseus written and directed by Evan Curtis
TRT 6 minutes.  Snowdysseus explores the vulnerability in feeling nostalgia for one’s home.

Best Sci-Fi: A Figment of My Imagination written and directed by Eric Smigiel
TRT 18 minutes.  This human story chronicles the conflict between an Android and its creator.

Best Wild Card: Quirky View directed and written by Anne Stirling 
TRT 22 minutes. Quirky View is a new TV series that reveals the true passions of regular folks with fascinating hobbies, unusual callings and those that have taken the road less traveled. It celebrates anything but the typical.

“We commend the local filmmakers who worked hard on these projects and look forward to traveling the winning films across the state,” said Nick Maniatis, Director of the New Mexico State Film Office. “This is one way we can do our part to bring local, independent films to a wider audience. We encourage everyone to attend.”

The screenings are free to the public and will take place in the following cities:

GRANTS: October 29, 2013 5pm
Contact - Rick Best
Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center
1900 E. Santa Fe Ave.
Grants, NM 87020
Phone: 505-876-2783

PORTALES: October 30, 2013 7pm
Contact - Jon Barr
ENMU Portales 
Buchanan Hall, Music Building
1500 S. Ave. N
Portales, NM 88130
Phone: 800-367-3668

ROSWELL: November 2, 2013 1pm
Contact - Renee Roach
Convention Center
912 N Main Street
Roswell, NM 88201
Phone: 575-637-6224

SANTA FE: November 8 – 10, 2013 11am
Contact - Jason Silverman
Santa Fe Center of Contemporary Arts
1050 Old Pecos Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Phone: 505-982-1338 

LAS CRUCES: November 15, 2013 5pm
Contact - Matt Byrnes
DACC Auditorium
East Mesa Campus
2800 N. Sonoma Ranch Blvd
Las Cruces, NM 88011
Phone: 575-527-7500

TAOS: December 20, 2013 7pm
Contact - Damon Klassen
Taos Center for the Arts
133 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte
Taos, NM 87571
Phone: 575-758-2052

No RSVP necessary to attend the screenings. The total running time for the winning films is 2 hours 48 minutes.  For more information visit www.nmfilm.com or call 505-476-5600.

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SANTA FE— The New Mexico Film Office announced the schedule for the 2013 NM Filmmakers Showcase featuring 39 independently-produced works from all over the State of New Mexico including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Taos.  The Showcase will take place at The Guild Cinema (3405 Central Avenue NE, Albuquerque, NM  87106) and is free and open to the public to attend. For a complete schedule visit http://nmfilm.com/uploads/files/2013%20NM%20Filmmaker%20Showcase%20schedule.pdf. 

Friday, October 25, 2013

6:00 pm: 	Meet the Filmmakers Opening Night Networking event
Laru Ni Hati Café
3413 Central Avenue NE, Albuquerque, NM  87106
		
7:00 pm: 	Block A - Showcase begins
The Guild Cinema
3405 Central Avenue NE, Albuquerque, NM  87106

A panel of local film professionals will judge the films in various categories and announce the winners on Sunday, October 27th during the 7:00 pm Awards Ceremony.  The wining films will travel to Grants, Portales, Roswell, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Taos starting at the end of the month through December.

For more information contact the New Mexico Film Office at 505-476-5604 or rochelle@nmfilm.com.

SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that the independent feature Big Sky, starring Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer, Kill Your Darlings), Bella Thorne (Shake It Up!, Raspberry Magic), Frank Grillo (The Grey, Warrior) and Aaron Tveit (Les Miserables, Graceland) to film in New Mexico.  Production will take place in October in Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.  
 
The production will employ 40 New Mexico crew members, 10 New Mexico actors and background talent.
 
Producer is Randy Manis (The Calling, Kill Your Darlings), Matt Salloway (The Butler, So Undercover), Christina Papagjika (The Butler) and co-produced by Ricky Tollman (The Calling).  Executive Producers are Michael Benaroya for Benaroya Pictures (Lawless, Margin Call, The Words) and Christine Vachon for Killer Films (Boys Don’t Cry, Far From Heaven, HBO's Mildred Pierce, One Hour Photo) along with Jeffrey V. Mandel for TBD Syndicate (Murderball). Santiago Sanchez (Somos lo Que Hay, 72) is the Director of Photography.

Directed by Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are) Big Sky is the tale of Hazel (Thorne), a teenage girl who suffers a mortal fear of open spaces resulting in her never leaving the bedroom of the home she shares with her mom, Dee (Sedgwick).  The strain on the relationship is taking its toll on both mom and daughter.  In the last ditch attempt to cure her daughter, Dee enrolls Hazel in a high-end treatment facility in the desert, hoping they will finally find the help they require so that Hazel can begin to move forward form the horrors of her past that triggered her illness.  When the unexpected occurs en-route to the facility, Hazel and Dee are forced to fight for their survival in the harshest conditions, and Hazel must tackle her worst fears before her fears consume her.  

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Visit the New Mexico Film Office online at nmfilm.com

SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that the independent feature X-Species will be in production October through the beginning of November in Silver City, Hurley and Faywood, NM.  

Starring Clancy McLain (Pieces, Killer Sharks: The Attacks of Black December), Skyler Hart (Karma, The Vanisher), Lieschen Pogue (Tough Nuts: Australia’s Hardest Criminals, Underbelly), Alan Pietruszewski (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Zero Dark Thirty) and John Henry Richardson (Castlevania: Hymn of Blood).

The production will employ 15 New Mexico crew members, 10 New Mexico actors and approximately 40 background talent.

Directed by Mark “Neko” Sparks, who will also serve as the producer along with Kevin Friesen, X-Species is the story of an archaeological expedition on the verge of a historic discovery.  After the team uncovers a prehistoric hominid burial site their camp is mysteriously ransacked.  With few defenses against the elements, casualties escalate as they try to find their way out of the woods.  Their fight to survive gives way to fear, for in even these most inhumane of circumstances, the real terror has yet to begin.  

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Visit the New Mexico Film Office online at nmfilm.com

SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that the independent feature La Vida Robot, starring George Lopez (The George Lopez Show, The Smurfs 2) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, Trading Places) will be in production mid-October through mid-November in Albuquerque.
 
The production will employ over 60 New Mexico crew members, 15 New Mexico actors and background talent.
 
“The film industry remains strong in Albuquerque and we welcome this new movie La Vida Robot to our Film-Friendly city”, said Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry.  

Produced by Ben O’Dell, Rick Jacobs, David Alpert and Leslie Kolins Small and directed by Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer), La Vida Robot is the true story of four undocumented Mexican American high school students who form a robotics club and defeat MIT in NASA’s national robotic competition. 
 
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SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today the independent film The Reach will begin production in Farmington and Shiprock mid-September through late October.

The production will employ 160 New Mexico crew members and 60 New Mexico actors and extras.

Produced by Michael Douglas (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Romancing the Stone, Face-Off) and Robert Mitas of Furthur Films. Directed by Jean-Baptiste Leonetti (Carre Blanc), The Reach, is written by Stephen Susco (The Grudge, Texas Chainsaw 3-D).  Susco will also serve as executive producer alongside Philip Elway (Gambit, Let Me In).  

Starring Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra, Last Vegas), Jeremy Irvine (War Horse, The Railway Man), Hanna Mangan-Lawrence (X: Night of Vengeance, Bed of Roses) and Ronny Cox (RoboCop, Total Recall), The Reach is based on the popular 1973 Edgar Award-winning young adult novel Deathwatch by Robb White.  

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SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced that Gunslingers, produced by Castle Pictures is filming in Santa Fe through early September.

The production will employ 60 New Mexico crew members and 300 New Mexico actors and extras.

Gunslingers, a six episode docudrama focusing on the famous outlaws and lawmen of the old west is directed by Chris Cassel (Redrum, Clash of the Gods).  Cassel will also serve as producer alongside Jake Pokluda (Sun Belt Express, Ilegales).  

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Visit the New Mexico Film Office online at nmfilm.com

SANTA FE — New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that the upcoming television series Killer Women, produced by ABC Studios will begin production in Albuquerque, NM, and the surrounding areas in mid-September.  

The production will employ over 150 New Mexico crew members and over 250 New Mexico actors and extras.

“We have had a banner year for filming in Albuquerque and we are thrilled to add ABC’s television show, Killer Women, to the incredible list of productions that have filmed here,” said Mayor Richard J. Berry. “Television productions are extremely important, because they keep Albuquerque film crews working for longer periods, showcase our city and become a more permanent fixture in the community.”

Killer Women is created and written by Hannah Shakespeare (The Raven, The Whole Truth).  Shakespeare will also serve as an executive producer alongside Ed Zuckerman (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, JAG), Martin Campbell (Last Resort, Casino Royale) and Ben Silverman (The Office, Ugly Betty).
 
Starring Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Green Lantern: First Flight), Marc Blucas (Knight and Day, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Michael Trucco (Next, Battlestar Galactica), Alex Fernandez (The Bridge, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and Marta Milans (Shame, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Killer Women is the story of a lone woman in a man’s world, Texas Ranger Molly Parker uses her crack investigative skills and feminine intuition to nail the state’s most dangerous female felons.  

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Visit the New Mexico Film Office online at nmfilm.com